A Little Ash
by Spinda Hater Ninety Seven
Summary: Iris turns up on Cilan's doorstep... with a five year old Ash? Possible Wishfulshipping. Series of one-shots. Rated T for referances from both Cilan and Iris. Sorry if it's not the best!
1. Chapter 1

A Little First Meet

Chili opened the door. "Oh, Iris!"

"Hey, is Cilan here? I need to talk to him, if that's okay."

"Oh, of course! Come in, I'll get him right away."

"Awesome, thanks!"

Chili turned and walked into the kitchen, and Iris stepped in. There was a small tug on her tights, and she turned to look at the little boy.

"What's wrong?"

He stared at her with nervous and scared brown eyes. She smiled.

"Still not going talk, are you?"

He looked at the ground, and she sighed.

"I'm sure it'll be okay if you come in, too. Besides, I want you to meet Cilan. He'll know what to do with you." She took his small hand and pulled him in, shutting the door as the green-haired Connoisseur walked out of the kitchen.

"Good evening, Iris. What has you out so late?"

She smiled sheepishly and looked at him. "Well… I kind of have a problem here…"

"What is it?"

She motioned her hand to the little boy, who had his hands behind his back as he looked up at Cilan nervously. "I found him walking on the side of the road with a Pikachu. He won't say a word, and I have no clue where he lives or anything!"

"Where is his Pikachu?"

"I left it at the Pokémon Center. We got attacked by a wild Darmanitan, and it got hurt protecting us."

Cilan kneeled down next to the little boy. "What's your name?"

"Cilan, I've tried, he's not going to answer…"

The little boy lowered his head a little. "My name is Ash," he whispered quietly. Cilan barely heard it; Iris thought that the boy had sighed.

"Ash?"

He nodded.

"How old are you?"

"Five."

Cilan looked up and smiled at Iris. "He's so young…"

She gave him a bewildered look. "He's actually talking?" She kneeled down quickly. "Where are you from?"

"I think I'm from Kanto… Brock lives in Pewter, and Misty lives in Cerulean. I met them somewhere in the Viridian Forest…"

"Kanto? How in the world did you get all the way here to Unova?"

"Brock had to go home to become a Pokémon doctor, and Misty was too busy with the gym to take care of me, so I had to go to Professor Oak's lab. He had to go to… The lab in… Um… N- New vehm ah Town…"

"Nuvema Town?"

"Yeah! He had to work with Professor Juniper for a couple of months, and I asked him if I could go on another journey while he worked. He said that as long as I have Pika or a trainer with me at all times, it would be okay."

Cilan stood up, putting his thumb and index finger in a position to hold his chin. "Hm…"

Iris joined him in standing. "What are we going to do?"

"We could call Cerulean or Pewter to see what the other two did."

She nodded. "That's actually a good idea. We could do that, if it's alright."

"Yes, let's do that." They were about to head over to the video phones when Cilan felt a tug on his pants. He looked down at him. "What's wrong?"

"Professor Oak says that there's a time difference between here and Kanto. If it's eight o'clock here, it would be two o'clock there."

Cilan looked at the clock. 6:30. It would be 12:30 there; both would probably be asleep now.

"This is a dilemma… We would have to call in the morning."

"What will we do for the night?"

He looked at her. "I'm not sure. How long did Nurse Joy say it would be until his Pikachu was better?"

"She said to come back in the morning. Maybe before we call we could go back."

"Do you want to stay here for the night? We have a couple of extra guest rooms," he suggested.

"Sure that'd be great! Except…" She looked at Ash. "We need to explain this all to your brothers."

"Of course. We would have to anyways."

"Explain all of what to us?"

They turned to look at Chili and Cress. Ash immediately hid behind Iris's leg, clinging to her tights again.

"Well… Iris found this five year old walking on the side of the road, and she asked me for help… We're going to call a couple of his friends in the morning, and we were wondering if the two could stay here for the night."

Cress blinked. "Yeah, but… Where _is _this kid?"

"He's hiding behind my leg," Iris explained, laughing nervously. The other two triplets looked and could see part of a small boy. He peeked out, froze up, and hid his face again.

"Ah… So you're shy, aren't you?" Chili reasoned. Cilan crouched down to look at him.

"Ash, aren't you going to say hello to my brothers?"

The little boy shook his head, surprising the older.

"What? Why not?"

The black-haired buried his face in her leg out of shyness. Cilan sighed.

"Please?"

He turned his head, looking at the gentle smile on his face. Ash seemed to get a shyer look on his face before slowly and tentatively pulling away from Iris and into view of the other two Striaton Brothers. They smiled at him. He smiled back nervously.

Chili looked at Cilan. "Don't you think it's time we have supper?"

Cress rolled his eyes. "Honestly, we've got a situation here, and all you can think about is food?"

Ash smiled- a real smile. Cilan stood up.

"Come on, let's go eat."

#?*!

"I'm just saying that Arceus created the Pokémon, and he could defeat Mew easily!" Chili exclaimed.

"But Mew can learn every single move!" Cress replied. "It could use Horn Drill and knock Arceus out immediately!"

Iris sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Guys, you've been debating this for over an hour. Can't you just let it go?"

They glared at each other for a moment, but then they both let out a deep breath.

"Alright…"

"Fine…"

They five were still sitting around the table; the dishes were finished, so they were just talking. Cilan was staring at the ceiling, thinking about that girl that was flirting with him today. He shivered slightly, hoping she wouldn't be back tomorrow. Iris started talking about her village, and how when two people would get into a debate, the whole village would join in and take sides. Chili and Cress were listening to her intently. Ash had his head on the table, facing the wall. He was physically in Unova, but he was mentally in the past, in Hoenn with his best friend, his first older sister figure, and his older brother figure.

He couldn't help but wonder if Max was still as excited to get his first Pokémon as he was when he left to go to Sinnoh with Brock. He frowned, feeling regret again about how he never told Max that he was his first and only best friend. _When I become a Pokémon trainer, if I ever see Max, I'm going to tell him. I will, I will, I will!_

His thoughts landed on May, wondering if she ever thought words near that about Drew. He knew that she looked at him different than how she looked at Brock or Harley, but he couldn't figure out why. Her face always turned red whenever they were talking about him, and it seemed to be even darker when he gave her one of those roses for Beautifly. He still couldn't figure out why.

The way May treated Max reminded him of how Kenny would treat Dawn. They would tease each other all the time; Ash thought it was fun to watch them. They were both great at contests, even if Dawn was better. Dawn was his second older sister figure. She never treated him like a five year old. He always felt older around her.

"Ash, what are _you _thinking about?" Cress's words interrupted his thoughts.

"Dawn…"

"You mean sunrise?"

"No, my friend Dawn. She lives in Sinnoh. I think that she said she was going to compete in some contests in Hoenn…"

He fell silent again. Cilan had to smile at how he was thinking of his friends.

^^;

_Alana grabbed onto Newton's hand. "You can't go," she sighed. "What will Lilly do without you? What will _I _do without you?"_

"_I don't know," he mumbled, "But I have to go. They need me back there."_

"_Then let us come with you!"_

"_It's too dangerous!" He turned and looked at her with a stern look. "All of the…"_

Cilan tore his vision away from the book and closed it. _I still want to dream of this book. I need to finish reading it at a time when I'm _not _about to fall asleep. Of course, I'll probably finish reading it in the morning…_

"This is his room, Ash… are you sure you're okay?"

Cilan turned at Chili's voice right outside his door. He started to get out of bed.

"Okay… Do you want me to get him up? …Are you sure? …Okay… I guess I'll-"

Cilan gently opened the door to see Ash rubbing his eye, hugging a slightly dirty Vaporeon doll, and Chili kneeling down next to him, both in their pajamas.

"What's going on?" he whispered.

Chili stood up. "I woke up and heard sobbing, and when I came out, I saw that it was Ash. He had gotten scared, being alone in a room for his first time, and he got up to find your room, but he got lost and was twice as scared as he was before."

Ash quietly hugged Cilan's leg with one arm, still scared, and looked up at him. Cilan chuckled and looked at Chili.

"I can take him for now."

"Are you sure? I mean… He seems kind of frantic…"

"I can do this, Chili, really. Honestly, you have no faith in me…"

The redhead stood up straight and sighed. "Alright… You know where we are if you need us…" He turned and walked down the hall, waving his triplet off.

Cilan smiled and kneeled down next to the five year old. "Why don't we go to sleep now? I'm sure you're tired."

Ash nodded tiredly and squeezed his Vaporeon before Cilan picked him up and lay him down on the right side of his bed. After crawling into the left side, he turned the lamp off and lay down.

"Cilan…?"

"Yeah, Ash?"

"…Good night…"

Cilan smiled. "Good night, Ash. Sleep well."

#?*!

As the video phone rang, Cilan turned to Iris.

"I forgot to tell you, last night Ash had gotten scared and came to my room with a little help from Chili. He ended up sleeping with me for the night."

"That's what happened to him? I was so worried! I thought he'd run off or something!"

The phone was picked up, and a teenager with spiky brown hair came on screen, looking down, not paying attention.

"_Pewter City Gym."_

Cilan took a deep breath. "Are you Brock, by any chance?"

The teen looked up. _"Yeah, this is. Can I help you?"_

Iris quickly explained the story to him, and he frowned.

"_He made it all the way to Unova? I knew I shouldn't have left him with the professor…"_

"Do you have any idea what we should do? He seems to really want to go on a journey…"

The tan smiled. _"I'm sure it will be alright if he goes… If you two are available to, that is."_

"I'm available for sure! I have nothing better to do anyways!"

"I'm sure my brothers will be quite alright with it."

"_Great! But… Just a fair warning- he can get… stubborn at times. He's always shy at first, and when you get to know him, he acts really confident, but… he's actually sensitive."_

Cilan nodded. "We can tell already."

"_Just be prepared for the things he can throw at you. I have to go- I trust you two can handle him from here?"_

"Sure thing! Just leave him to us!"

"_Alright; just call if you need any help with anything. See ya!" _The line went dead; Iris and Cilan were left with a five year old and a journey into the unknown.

As if on cue, Ash quietly ran into the room, still in his pajamas and carrying his Vaporeon doll. He ran over and hugged Cilan's leg, causing the teen to turn and smile.

"Well, good morning, Ash. Did you sleep well?"

He nodded. "Did Brock say that it was okay to go on a journey?"

"He sure did." He kneeled down to look at him. "And Iris and I are both able to travel with you. Would you like that?"

The brown eyes lit up tremendously. "Really? Yes!"

Cilan chuckled. "Alright… Let's get Pikachu, and we can start really soon."

"Awesome! Let's do this!"


	2. Chapter 2

A Little Cut

Sighing in contentment, Cilan put the last plate into his bag and slung it onto his shoulder. Ash came running up next to him, grabbing onto his leg and grinning up at the Connoisseur.

"Are we leaving now?"

"I'm not sure. Iris, are you ready to go? Ash is eager!"

Her female voice flowed in through the trees. "Almost!"

The five year old boy ran away from Cilan's leg and towards her voice a little. "Well, hurry up! I really wanna get to Nacrene City!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Ugh, what a little kid!"

Ash rolled his eyes and turned to the sixteen year old. "Let's go!"

He took off, and Cilan sighed as Iris came up next to him. The two glanced at each other, smiling tiredly before running to catch up with him.

* * *

><p>Ash's brown eyes sparkled as he looked at the sky while walking. "Pika, doesn't that cloud look a little bit like Piplup?"<p>

"Pika, Pikachu!"

"And that one looks like… Um… Togepi! And that one's a Munchlax!"

Cilan smiled at the five year old. "You sure know your Pokemon, don't you, Ash?"

"Of course! Dawn and I would go over them every day, and the same with me and Max!" He suddenly took off running, Pikachu at his heels, Cilan and Iris sighing before following.

"Ash, slow down!"

He turned and started to run backwards. "I can't help it, Iris! I really wanna see that bridge you guys were talking about! It sounds awesome!"

"Watch where you're going…!"

As if on cue, the small boy's foot hit a root, and he was sent toppling over with a scream. Pikachu ran over, and Cilan almost felt his face turn pale.

"Ash!"

The older two ran to him, hoping for the best, and the Connoisseur lifted him gently.

"Are you alright?"

The youngest burst into tears and grabbed onto the oldest tightly. Alarmed, he held him and tried to find what was wrong.

"Ash, what is it? A-Are you hurt? Did you break something?"

Ash gripped his shirt and shook his head. "My knee…"

Cilan pulled the younger away and looked at both of them. On his right knee, he had a cut about two inches long with the width of a piece of paper. There were only a couple of drops of blood, and a little dirt had gotten in. The older smiled in relief and looked at Ash.

"You have a boo-boo?"

He nodded, trying not to cry even more, and Cilan gently put him down to take off his pack and pull out a small bandage. He cleaned off the small scrape and gently put it on him, rolling his baggy, black jeans down over it.

"Better?"

Ash wiped his eyes and nodded.

"Thank you…"

Iris sighed next to them. "Ash, do you even realize that the Skyarrow Bridge is a lot further away than you'd thought? It'll take weeks to get there! You went and hurt yourself for nothing!"

"Iris?"

"What?"

"Let it go."

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but sighed and looked away in defeat. Pikachu jumped over to Ash and rubbed its cheek on his hand. The five year old giggled and hugged it tightly.

"We're going to Nacrene City next, Pika! Are you ready?"

"Pi, Pikachu Pika Pi!"

"Then let's go!"

He got up and took off- again. Cilan and Iris glanced at each other, smiling tiredly, before following him, hoping that he would be a bit more careful this time.


	3. Chapter 3

A Little Bath

"Ciiilaaan!"

The sixteen year old turned, and he had to put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. Ash and Pikachu stood in front of him, both covered with mud, and a big grin on both of their faces. Iris walked up next to Cilan and sighed.

"What did you do now?" She groaned.

"Pika and I were playing outside, and there was this huge mud puddle!" he laughed, putting his muddy hands up. "I had to go play in it, and Pika followed!"

Cilan laughed a little and took the five-year-old by the hand. "I think we need to get all of that mud off of you two. Come on. "

The little boy and his Pikachu followed the older up the stairs of the Pokemon Center and to the bathroom of their room. Within a few minutes, Ash and Pikachu were in the bathtub, and Cilan was kneeling next to it, sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

The black-haired lifted some of the bubbles with his small hands and blew them towards the green haired, who jumped and laughed.

"Ash, come on, don't you want to save those bubbles?"

"Nope!"

Cilan sighed quietly, watching the two from Kanto splash each other and giggle.

"Alright," he mumbled, "Let's get that mud off of you." He picked up a washcloth and wet it down, scrubbing the younger's arm gently as he laughed with Pikachu.

"Cilan, did your Momma do this for you when you were little?"

The Connoisseur smiled gently at him. "Actually, my mother wasn't around much when I was your age. My brothers and I did this for each other."

Ash stared up at Cilan with his big, brown eyes. "So… I'm not the only one growing up without a real Momma?"

"Well… Not of all time, but right now you may be."

He smiled. "That's okay! I'm just glad I'm not the only person that's ever gone through it!"

Cilan smiled. "Just enjoy it for now," he whispered. "Okay, let's wash your hair."

He poured a little of the light green, apple-scented shampoo into the black hair and rubbed it in, causing the youngest to laugh.

"It tickles!" He took a deep breath. "It smells really good! Like… Um…"

"Like an apple?"

"Yeah!"

Smiling, Cilan filled a small pitcher of water. "Tip your head back."

Ash did as he was told, and the older poured it over the top of his head. As Cilan moved onto Pikachu, the youngest looked up at him.

"Didn't you grow up with a Daddy?"

Cilan shook his head. "No. He was gone with Mom for most of the time, too. Chili, Cress, and I basically grew up without parents."

He looked at the water. "Just like me…"

"You're kind of lucky, though," Cilan pointed out. "You don't have to deal with two annoying brothers, and you get to travel."

He looked up, smiling. "You're right!"

The green eyed smiled down. "Alright, let's get you two out and dried off. It's getting late."

"Okay!"

*Line Break*

"Sleep well, Ash," Iris mumbled as she walked out the door.

"Sweet dreams."

"Cilan?"

He turned away from the door. "Yes?"

Ash hugged his Vaporeon Doll tightly in nervousness. "Did you and your brothers really grow up by yourselves?"

Cilan stared at Ash for a moment. He sighed and walked over to the bed, kneeling down next to it.

"Yes, Ash, we did."

"Were you lonely?"

He knew this was coming.

"… We would get lonely at times, yes. But we always had each other; we also had Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour."

Ash glared at the sheets. "I get lonely sometimes… I sometimes wonder what happened to my Momma and Daddy…"

The older smiled. "I would sometimes wonder what all my parents do on their business trips. Don't let your imagination get too far; we don't want you having nightmares."

The younger smiled and yawned. "Okay… Good night, Cilan…"

"Good night, Ash. Sleep well."

As soon as Ash had shut his eyes, Cilan quietly slipped out of the room to let him sleep in peace.


	4. Chapter 4

A Little Poison

"Cilan…!"

The Connoisseur turned away from the battle at the sound of the little boy's voice. Ash was standing by a tree, bent over so that his hands were on his knees, panting.

Iris walked over next to Cilan, and they both started to worry a little.

"Ash, what's wrong?"

He fell to his knees, grabbing his hand in pain.

"A Pokémon bit me… And now I feel really dizzy…"

Cilan quickly ran over and kneeled next to him. "Will you let me take a look at it?"

Ash hesitantly held out his right hand, and the sixteen year old took the glove off gently. He winced when he saw how swollen it was. It also had two little cuts in the shape of a bite mark, both which were bleeding. Ash bit his lip and shut his eyes tight, trying to prevent himself from crying. Seeing this, Cilan quickly grabbed his bag and pulled out the bandages. He wrapped Ash's hand loosely and put a small bag of ice on it.

"You're being very brave," he mumbled to him. "I'm sure this will heal up soon. Just rest for now; you shouldn't be moving very much."

Ash nodded and took hold of the ice bag. Cilan turned to Iris.

"We may need to take him to a doctor. The poison doesn't seem to be too bad, but it's still poison."

"We are pretty close to Castelia City, aren't we?"

"If we would get on the road right now, we'd probably make it by tomorrow… Ash, what did the Pokémon that bit you look like?"

"Um… its head was red… and its body was green… its antenna each had a black stripe on them, and so did its stingers…"

They looked at each other again, worry filling both of their faces. Cilan quickly zipped up and put on his pack, picking Ash up and standing. Iris grabbed her and Ash's packs, and they started to run towards Castelia.

"Wait… Why are you running? What's wrong?"

"Ash… The Pokémon that bit you… It's called a Venipede…"

"Venipede?"

"Yes. Its poison can be near fatal to a child much younger than you. I'm not sure how it will affect you, but I don't want to take any chances."

"What's… Fah tahl?"

"Don't you mean fatal?" Iris questioned.

"Yeah… What is it?"

"It's… Um… It's when you get really, really, really sick…" _And die…_

"Oh… I really hope that it won't be fatal… I hate being sick…"

Cilan rubbed his shoulder. "I hope so, too…"

:/

They had only been running for about two hours when a Pokémon Center came into sight. Ash was asleep; Cilan and Iris could only smile at each other in relief without waking him. They ran in quickly, startling Nurse Joy.

"Our friend was bitten by a Venipede about two hours ago," Cilan explained quietly. "Can you please help him?"

"How old is he?"

"He's only five. It's not going to be fatal, is it…?"

She smiled. "Let's hope not. Audino, come here, please!"

The pink hearing Pokémon quickly came over. "Aud!"

"Can you help me with this boy? He was bitten by a Venipede."

"Dino!"

Nurse Joy gently took the sleeping, black-haired boy and ran him into a room in the back. Iris went and sat down quietly, but Cilan stared after them for a few minutes.

"_Let's hope not."_

That's all that ran through his mind. He knew that that meant that Ash might die. _No… Not Ash… He can't…_

A hand landed on his shoulder. "Cilan? There's nothing we can do. We can only wait."

He nodded and walked over to the benches, sitting with his elbows on his knees, face in his hands. Iris let her shoulders fall as she sat next to him. She knew that the two were really close; he once told her that he viewed Ash as a little brother, or even his own kid. She remembered how Ash acted when Cilan left to run an errand that would take a couple of days. He didn't want to watch her train, didn't want to play with Pokémon; all that he did was sit by the window and wait for him to come back. He had admitted that Cilan was like his father that he never had, whereas Brock had only been like an older brother.

Cilan suddenly stood up. "I need to make a phone call. I'll be back."

He walked into the other room, taking a deep breath, and dialing the number into the video phone.

One ring… Two rings… Three-

"_Striaton City Gym Restaurant, what would you like to know?" _The redhead didn't look up from his pad that he had written orders on. Cilan raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

His red eyes glanced up, and then they widened. _"Cilan!" _He quickly looked off screen. _"Cress! It's Cilan!"_

"_Cilan?" _The blunette appeared onscreen and smiled. _"Hey!"_

"What's new?"

"_Well, the restaurant is doing fine."_

"_Yeah, and so is the gym! We're having battles all the time!"_

"Sounds great!"

"_How're things there?"_

Cilan awkwardly took in a breath and looked at the ground. "Not so great…"

The other two of the triplets both looked at him in concern. _"What's wrong?"_

"Ash was bitten by a Venipede this morning… Nurse Joy is taking care of him, but I'm still pretty worried…"

"_He's pretty young, too… Do you think it's going to be…?"_

"I asked Nurse Joy if she thought it would. She just said 'Let's hope not' and got to work."

"_Way to help keep everyone calm," _Chili scoffed.

"_Well, you can't say that he'll be fine if you don't know."_

"Cress does have a point, Chili."

"_I know, I know."_

They were silent for a moment, and Cilan was taking deep breaths. _Ash will be okay… He'll be okay… He'll be okay…_

"_Cilan? Are you going to be okay?"_

He looked up and smiled weakly. "…Yeah, I'll be okay. I'm just… worried…."

"_That's understandable. You really care about Ash. You treat him like a little brother."_

He nodded. "I'll call you guys later. I need to go."

"_Alright. We wish him luck."_

"_And try to relax. He'll pull through."_

"Thanks. See you later."

"_Bye."_

He hung up and went back to the lobby, sitting away from Iris, his back to her, and he put his face in his hands again. He sat like that for about an hour, his thoughts of what might happen to Ash causing more tears to stream down his cheeks.

"Are you two the ones that brought Ash in?"

He quickly wiped his eyes and looked at the counter where Nurse Joy stood. He and Iris ran over.

"How is he?"

She smiled. "He'll be fine. All that he needs is to rest for the next couple of days and to take this medicine before breakfast everyday for a week." She gently handed Cilan a bag while giving them the information. She then turned and went to work on the other Pokémon as the two looked at each other.

"Great…He has to take medicine… again."

She sighed. "Last time it was only one pill, and we still had to force feed it into him. How are we going to do that for a whole week?"

"We could ask my brothers, if they have even the faintest idea of how hard it was then."

"Audi!"

They looked at Audino as it carried a sleeping Ash out of the back room. Cilan breathed a sigh of relief before gently taking him back.

"Thank you, Audino."

It nodded and ran off. Cilan turned to Iris.

"I told Chili and Cress that I would update them. Could we go call them?"

"Of course!"

^_^"

"_Geez, sounds like it's going to be hard to get that medicine into him…"_

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Iris exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. Cilan sighed.

"Do either of you have any ideas as to how we can get him to take it without any struggle?"

"_Hm… perhaps you could slip it into his food?"_

"That won't work," Iris pointed out. "It's a capsule, not one of those chalky pills. He'd bite down on it and figure out that we're giving him medicine."

"_Maybe you could give it to him while he's still sleeping!"_

"Chili, if he didn't swallow it, he could choke!" Cilan exclaimed.

"_Oh…"_

Cress lifted his finger. _"Do you remember that time we took care of Andrea's daughter?"_

"You mean our cousin Andrea? Of course I remember, how could I forget about…" Cilan smacked himself on the forehead. "I completely forgot about that!"

"What did you forget about?"

"When we were younger, our cousin had us taking care of her daughter for the day. She gave us a pill, saying that Hayley needed to take it at five o'clock. She _hated _that pill. We ended up taking apart the capsule and putting it into her water, making her drink it soon after. That's what we'll do with Ash!"

"That's a great idea!"

He turned to his brothers. "Thank you so much! You really saved a lot of time and energy."

"_Hey, what are bros for?"_

"_It was no problem at all."_

"We'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye!"

"_See ya!"_

They hung up, and Cilan suddenly felt something tugging at his pants. He looked down and smiled.

"Hey, you woke up!"

Ash giggled, closing his eyes. "Can we go to Castelia City now?"

Iris crouched down to look at him eye level. "You still have some poison in you. Nurse Joy says that you need to rest for a couple of days."

"But I feel fine… I was really hoping we could get there…"

Cilan bent down and picked him up. "Well, then, we can start on our way, and we'll carry you. That way, we'll get there, and you'll be resting as we do."

Ash grinned and put his arms around Cilan's neck. "Really? Awesome!"

They picked up their bags and were soon on their way to finally get to Castelia City.


	5. Chapter 5

A Little Nightmare

Cilan sighed as he sat down next to the fire. Iris grinned at him.

"Hard to get him to sleep again?"

The gentleman nodded, shutting his eyes. "He was so rambunctious tonight… Pikachu had to Thunderbolt him twice before he finally lay down, and even then he wouldn't fall asleep…"

She giggled and looked at the sky. "He's such a kid…"

The five year old turned onto his side, facing away from their conversation, as he knew where it was going. _They're going to fight again… I wish they wouldn't do that… Why am I scared of them fighting? May and Max would fight all the time… and so would Dawn and Kenny… I fought with Misty a lot… I don't get it… I'm only scared when Iris and Cilan fight…_

He shut his eyes, trying to ignore the angry hissing of the two teenagers and quickly falling asleep.

u-u

"_Richard, why are you watching this show with Ash in the room? He's two, for Mew's sake!" A woman in her early twenties with brown hair in a bun glared at a man of about the same age with her piercing brown eyes._

"_I think a couple of war movies would do him some good!" He snapped. His short black hair was spiked up, and his green eyes glared back. "Delia, don't you want him to grow up to be a strong kid?"_

"_I don't care! I didn't even want the kid, you're the reason we even have him! If it wasn't for him, we would have broken up three years ago!"_

"_If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be fighting!"_

_A small boy with black hair and scared brown eyes slid off the couch and crawled under the coffee table. He was obviously scared that his parents were fighting; they must have done this often._

"_Maybe if you'd get a real _job _instead of your stupid Pokemon battles we wouldn't be fighting!"_

"_Battling is my job!"_

"_Why does it even matter? You're being a bad influence to the kid!"_

"_You don't even care about the kid!"_

"_Maybe I don't, but when he gets older, I don't need two of you running around!"_

"_Well, I- Wait…"_

"_You're always arguing with me, and -"_

"_Delia-"_

"_I don't even know why I dated y-"_

"_Honey!" He reached over and grabbed her shoulders, grinning._

"_What?"_

"_Do you realize that the kid links all of our problems together?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "Well, duh!"_

_The little boy started to shiver in fear. He definitely didn't like the sound of his father's voice._

"_What if we got rid of the kid?"_

Ash sat up, gasping. He looked around quickly before he realized that it was really late, and that Cilan and Iris were both in bed. It was dark; the fire had gone out. He felt around for Pikachu, and he felt the electric mouse sleeping soundly next to his sleeping bag. He shook it gently.

"Pika? …P-Pika…? Wake up…"

It shifted, but didn't wake. Ash started to tremble. The dream had felt so… real. It was as if it was a real memory that he hadn't remembered until now. He didn't want to be alone. He stood up and ran over to where Iris was sleeping.

"I-Iris? Are you awake…?"

She groaned, and her eyes opened slightly. "Ash…? What are you doing…?"

"I had a nightmare…"

She shut her eyes and turned over. "Talk to Cilan about it…"

"Iris…? Don't leave me alone…!"

But it was too late. She was out as quickly as she had woken. He started to tremble again.

"_Why don't we get rid of the kid?"_

He hugged himself in fright as he got up and ran to Cilan's sleeping bag.

"Cilan…? Cilan, wake up… C-Cilan?"

His green eyes opened halfway, and he propped himself onto his elbows in confusion.

"Ash…? Why are you…" He suddenly saw the look on the five year old's face, and he immediately knew what was wrong. "Did you have a bad dream?"

He nodded, blinking back tears. "It felt really real…"

The sixteen year old sighed and held out an arm. "Come on… Sleep here tonight. I know how scary those kind of dreams are."

The younger looked at the ground for a moment. "Can I go get Vapy?"

"Vapy?"

"The Vaporeon that Misty gave me…"

Cilan smiled gently. "Of course. Here, I'll come with you."

The older climbed out of his green sleeping bag, and within a couple of minutes the two were laying down again.

"What happened in your dream?" Cilan quietly asked. "Do you want to tell me?"

Ash nodded and squeezed the stuffed Pokemon. "It was these two people fighting… and there was a little boy that they kept saying everything was his fault… the man asked the lady what would happen if they got rid of him… The boy looked a lot like me…"

Cilan stared up at the stars, deep in thought. "Ash… did either of the two have black hair or brown eyes…?"

He nodded.

"…Go to sleep, Ash. Sweet dreams, okay?"

The brown eyes started to slide shut. "Okay… Good night, Cilan…"

He gave the black-haired boy a small hug after he had fallen asleep. "Ash… I'm so glad that you think it was only a dream… Because I know… that it was one of your memories…"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey, guys, I'm back! Sorry it took so long to update! I got writer's block, and then I got so freaking busy with school and band... But no matter! Summer is here, and I shall be updating my fanfictions again in no time!**

* * *

><p><span>A Little Addition<span>

"Grrr!"

Cilan's green eyes widened, and he looked around a little.

"Grrrr!"

He set down the spoon on the table and looked around the clearing.

"Grrrrr!"

His eyes darted to Iris and Axew, but both were asleep.

"Grrrrrr!"

He started to look around quickly, hoping there wasn't a wild Pokemon near the campsite that was getting ready to attack them.

"Grrrrrrr!"

There was suddenly a pair of small arms wrapping around his left leg.

"Ash!"

"Grrr! I'm not Ash, I'm a Rhyhorn! Grrr!"

"Wait- _you _were making that growling?"

The five year old giggled and pulled away from the sixteen year old. "Yup!" With that, he took off, just as Pikachu had caught up with him. It groaned and chased after him again.

Ash stopped and got onto all fours, turning to look at the electric mouse Pokemon. "Grrr! Come on, Pika! Play with me!"

"Pika, Pikachu!"

He crawled across the clearing, crouching near where Iris lay underneath the tree next to Axew. Pikachu tugged at his black jeans in plead.

"Pikapi!" It hissed.

"Roar!"

He lunged and jumped onto her, giving her a very rude awakening as she screamed.

"Ash! What was that? !"

"I'm not Ash, I'm a Rhyhorn!"

"What even is that? You're such a little kid!"

He laughed and quickly ran off, escaping her wrath by a mere three inches. He jumped into position and crawled around, growling and roaring until he stopped and turned towards the bushes.

"Hm?"

A few yips filled his ears, and out of curiosity, he slowly crawled to it and parted the bushes away.

"Pup! Pup! Lil!"

He gasped, picking it up and cuddling it. "It's a puppy! Cilan!" He got up and started running towards where the Pokemon Connoisseur was.

"Hm? Ash, what's wrong?"

"Cilan! Cilan! I found a puppy!"

"A puppy…?" He looked at the small Pokemon in the arms of the five year old. "Oh! That's a Lillipup!"

"A Lilly-pop?"

He chuckled. "Yes, Ash, a Lillipup. Where did you find it?"

"It was in the bushes!"

Cilan reached down and took it from him. "What are you doing here, Lillipup? Where did you come from?"

"Pup, pup, lil!"

"Cilan, can I have her back?"

He crouched down, gently putting it on the ground. "But how do you know that it's a girl?"

"Max taught me how to tell the difference between girl and boy Pokemon!" Ash laughed as he sat, letting the Lillipup crawl onto his lap.

"_Let's name it… Carl!" Chili exclaimed. Cress rolled his blue eyes._

"_How do you know it's a boy? And, why Carl?"_

"_Because I said so, that's why! And Carl is a fun name!"_

"_No, it's not! It's weird! And besides, what if it's a girl?"_

"_Guys!" Cilan yelled. "Stop fighting! Remember what Uncle Michael said? If we can't get along, we can't get a pet!"_

"Cilan? Cilan?"

He snapped out of his trance and looked to the caller. "Yes, Iris?"

She raised a dark eyebrow at him. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, yes, I'm fine! Nothing to worry about!"

"Hey, Cilan?"

He looked to Ash and the Lillipup, who were both smiling.

"Cilan, can we keep him?"

A sigh escaped him before he could hold it back. "I don't know, Ash…"

"Pleeeaaassseee?"

Cilan pressed his lips together and looked at Iris, who shrugged. Sighing again, he gave Ash a stern look.

"We'll keep her for one night. Then we'll see."

Ash grinned and laughed. "Yay! Did you hear that, Lilly? We might get to keep you!"

"Pup, Lili!"

Iris groaned. "Ash, don't you know that once you name a Pokemon, you grow more attatched to it? Arceus, you're such a kid!"

"So is your mom!"

Both of their mouths shot open, and he ran away with the Lillipup happily. Slowly, they turned to look at each other.

"Do you know where he learned that phrase…?"

"No… The only person I've ever heard saying that was Trip, and it was never around Ash…"

Cilan pinched the bridge of his nose. "We have got to be more careful about who says what around him…"

^-^"

The stars were twinkling; Ash's eyelids were drooping. Lilly was curled up in his lap, dozing silently. Pikachu was in the five-year-old's arms. The boy's head kept slipping down, and then it would snap back up, only for it to slip back down again… This pattern continued for a few minutes as Ash struggled to keep himself awake.

"Are you sleepy, Ash?"

The gentle whisper caught his ear, and he rubbed his eye quietly as he nodded. Within a minute or so, someone gently picked up Lilly and Pikachu, and a pair of strong arms gently lifted him up and carried him away. He was placed into his sleeping bag, with the Pokémon on either side of him. He weakly opened his eyes and looked at the older two with a smile.

"Goodnight, Ash. Sweet dreams," Iris mumbled before walking away. He looked at Cilan, who chuckled quietly.

"Goodnight, Ash. Sleep tight, okay?"

"Okay…"

"We'll talk about Lilly in the morning." He ruffled the little boy's hair and stood up, turning to walk back to the fire.

"…'Love you, Cilan…"

A soft smile played on his lips as he looked at the younger.

"I love you too, Ash. Sweet dreams."

When the warmth of the fire finally hit his face, he turned to smile at Iris.

"…I think we've got a new member to our team."


End file.
